Sometime vines are overlooked as landscape plants. They are useful in blocking an ugly view, and many provide attractive blooms. Vines are often food sources for wildlife and/or provide nesting sites. Most vines also seem to be drought-tolerant once they are established.

Queen’s crown or coral vine is making quite a show right now. The small, but numerous pink flowers (sometimes white) cover the aggressive vine and the leaves are heart-shaped. As showy as the blooms are, coral vine can become a pest, because it is very drought-tolerant and can easily grow more than 40 feet in a season over roofs and into trees. The only thing that saves us from being over run by coral vine is that it is very cold-sensitive. It dies back with temperatures in the mid 30’s. There is a red flowered version that is attractive and less aggressive than the pink or white blooming plants. Coral vine makes a good summer screen or ground cover. Bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies seek the blooms as a nectar source.

Trumpet creepers are also blooming now. They have large tubular red-orange flowers (Madam Galen is more orange) that are very popular with hummingbirds. Trumpet creepers are vigorous growers that can cover 30 or 40 feet. They form large grapevine-like stems, but are deciduous so do not make the best screen.

Cape honeysuckle blooms look like miniature trumpet creepers. The foliage is also very similar and bloom in the autumn until cold weather. They are a favorite nectar source for migrating hummingbirds. Cape honeysuckle will be evergreen if the winter is mild, but two out of three winters it loses its foliage. The plant grows like Carolina Jessamine, in that it is a leaner more than a grasping vine.

Crossvine is one of the best vines for a screen. It is evergreen and forms a thick screen and is aggressive enough to cover eight or ten feet of a six foot fence in the sun, but it does not take over the neighborhood. Crossvine has a very attractive rusty-red bloom that can cover the plant for the month of March and then has a few blooms the rest of the year. The variety Tangerine Beauty has a more orange flower. Crossvine is a favorite hummingbird nectar source in early spring.

Butterfly vine is also evergreen and makes a good screen. It produces yellow blooms nearly all summer. The blooms are followed by green seed pods that look like butterflies. Grow butterfly vine on a fence in full sun just like crossvine.

For the shade, consider Carolina jessamine or confederate jasmine. Both have fragrant blooms in early spring. The Carolina jessamine is yellow and the confederate jasmine bloom is white. Carolina jessamine leans rather than twines or grasps,so at times it may have to be tied up. Confederate jasmine is a twiny vine. Both of these vines are evergreen with shiny foliage. They are aggressive enough to form a screen, but will not usually cover more than eight feet per plant.

Climbing roses can be spectacular landscape features. They will grow 15 feet in all directions and in the spring can be covered with blooms. New Dawn and Old Blush are good choices. New Dawn can be pink or red, while Old Blush is pink. Make sure you get the climbing rose variety. Climbing roses have thorns so they make excellent nesting sites for birds, but they can be difficult to manage.

Climbing roses do not twine or grasp a fence or trellis. They must be managed by pruning. Prune them in the early summer after the spring flush of bloom. Roses are deciduous. They do best with one deep watering per month, but the tough climbing roses like New Dawn and Old Blush do not need to be sprayed with fungicides or pesticides. Grow climbing roses on fences or trellises in full sun.

Passion vine is another wildlife attracting vine. It, however, attracts butterflies, particularly the gulf fritillary which lay their eggs on the vine. There are times when the caterpillars become so thick that very little foliage remains on the plant. Despite having very little foliage, passion vine has a will to bloom. There are several colors of flowers. The purple is the most common and the hardiest.

Calvin R. Finch, Ph.D., is a horticulturist and the director of water resources for the San Antonio Water System.